Divination for Dummies
by Rabiscar
Summary: COMPLETE! Lily walked up to the North Tower on her first day in 6th year expecting to learn a little about the Inner Eye & a lot about baseless superstition. Instead she finds herself learning more than she wanted to know about one James Potter & herself.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to JK Rowling.

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><p>Chapter One - Palmistry<p>

"What are _you_doing in this class?" Lily asked as she grudgingly threw her book bag down on a chintz armchair.

James looked up at her quizzically. "Are you really sitting there?" He pointed to the chair adjacent to his.

"Yes," she said airily as she struggled out of her cardigan. "Its always so stuffy in here," she grumbled.

"Voluntarily?"

"What?" Lily asked and stuffed her sweater into her bag.

"You're sitting there voluntarily," he repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah," she shrugged and stared around the room with her hands on her hips. "You're a git, but everyone else is a dunce," she admitted out of the corner of her mouth. "Divination is a breeding ground for gullible, illogical nitwits and their superstitions."

"Then why are you taking it?"

"It's recommended for students who are interested in working as a Healer. Something to do with developing analytical skills and interpreting symbols and signs so you can become a better diagnostician when working in the field."

"Sounds like a load of bollocks to me," James muttered and fiddled idly with his quill.

"That's what I thought too," Lily agreed as she settled in her chair, "but they do it in the Muggle world too. Some programs require aspiring doctors to take art courses and such," she said and smoothed out her blouse. "But you still haven't answered my question, why are _you_taking this class? You think it's a joke, don't you?"

"It _is_ a joke," James agreed and surveyed the room disapprovingly. "I'm only taking it because you're taking it."

Lily huffed and narrowed her eyes. "That's just irresponsible, you need to use your electives to pick courses that are relevant to your future career and not waste your time chasing disinterested girls."

"Girl," James corrected her quietly as he doodled aimlessly on his parchment. "Disinterested _girl_."

Lily opened her mouth to retort but Professor Signum had just marched briskly to the front of the room. Her chesnut hair was pulled into French plaits that she had looped into a low bun and her dark eyes swept the room until everyone fell quiet.

"The inner eye is not something that I can bequeath to you, I cannot teach you to See as I See," she boomed. "All I can do is teach you to recognize the signs. Some signs are simple and straightforward- if you see them, you can be certain that very specific events will unfold in your future. Other signs are not so telling. Their value comes from what knowledge you can glean from the way that you and your peers interpret the signs. You can learn a lot about a wizard or witch based on what a sign means to them. You will not only be interpreting the signs but you will also be interpreting your _reaction _to the sign and what it says about you."

She paused and stared around the room, drawing a slow and meditated breath.

"I can tell you all of this now but I know full well that you won't quite understand what I mean until we begin so lets dive right in. Today we're starting with something easy- palmistry. I'm not going to instruct you, use your textbooks and your instincts. What does a person's hand say about them?" She asked and raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Partner up, I expect you to write notes based on your observations and the conclusions you reach. You may begin."

Feeling clueless, Lily turned to look at James with a wide-eyed look.

"She's taking a rather different tack this year isn't she?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to have to do any work in this class," James huffed and edged his chair closer to Lily's. "You go first," he said and stretched out his hand. "Tell me what my future holds," he grinned.

"Er, alright," Lily said looking flustered as she cracked her textbook open on her lap. She took James' hand in hers and squinted closely at the lines.

"Uhh," she flipped through a few pages and traced a line at the top of his palm. "This is your life line," she said uncertainly. "I guess, I guess its long, you'll have a long, full life," she stammered. "But long in comparison to what? How am I supposed to know if its long or short?" she scowled and bent her head low over his hand.

"You suck at this," James said dismissively and swiftly raised the hand in question to smack her on the nose. "Let me have a go."

"Alright Zoltar, go ahead," Lily wrinkled her nose and reached out her hand.

James took it and started kneading her palm with his thumb, rubbing along each of the lines before running along her fingers and knuckles.

"Aren't you going to use the textbook?" Lily asked.

"Don't need it," James frowned and continued to press upon her hand. "Ah, well here's something," he grinned triumphantly. "You're right handed!"

"That doesn't count, its not in the future," Lily said impatiently.

"Signum said we only need to see what we can learn about our partner, not that we have to predict the future," James argued.

"Nearly everyone is right handed and you could have seen me writing in another class," Lily rolled her eyes.

"I didn't but fine, I'll find something else then," James said and pushed down on each of her fingertips in turn. "Hey!" he exclaimed, "I didn't know you play guitar! How long have you been playing?"

"About three years," Lily said slowly, "You felt my calluses I suppose?"

"Yeah," James nodded, "that's how I knew you were right handed too, no writing callus on your left hand."

"Alright, let me try it again," Lily said and took James' hand in hers, this time feeling each part carefully with her fingertips. He had tough, thick skin where the base of his fingers met the palm of his hand. Lily pressed her finger against it and thought that it must be the effects of years of Quidditch playing. She felt along each of his fingers and there on his middle finger was the tough writing callus- so he _did_study as much as she did. She moved on to his thumb which had a shiny, pink scar stretching across the front. Gently, she traced her finger along the scar and mused that he must have picked it up when lighting dungbombs or maybe fireworks in the grounds after hours. Smiling, she raised her eyes to see him watching her closely.

"Find anything?" he asked quietly.

"Maybe," Lily said and withdrew her hand from his before leaning back in her chair.

"Well?" James asked.

Lily shrugged her shoulders and smoothed out her parchment. "I don't know," she shifted in her seat.

James smirked but Professor Signum cut in before he could question her further.

"You should be starting to record your observations now as I want you all to hand in your notes at the end of the period," she instructed the class. "And I expect your handwriting to be _legible_," she said emphatically.

Lily and James exchanged looks and each bent forward over their respective parchments. The remainder of the class was relatively quiet as everyone rushed to finish their write-ups. Quills scritch scratched across pages and there was the occasional clinking of glass as someone dipped into their ink well. Lily frowned and read over her concluding statements with a critical eye. Her writing process up until that point had been almost like stream of consciousness as she wrote to beat the clock.

_The subject's hands are marked by everything he's involved in. They indicate his dedication to sport, school and mischief. The physical features of his hand are hardly more telling than the actual movement and conduct his hands undertake when being examined. His hands are warm and responsive to every touch. They are both firm and gentle; relaxed and in tune with the examiner's movements. He is comfortable with himself, aware of others, trusting and open._

Lily twisted her quill between her teeth. She had gone a little too far with the conclusion. She made to rip the end of her parchment off so she could rewrite it but just then the bell tolled.

"Hand your reports in to me before you go," Professor Signum shouted over the scuffing of chairs and shuffling feet.

Resignedly, Lily made her way to the professor and thrust her report into her outstretched hand. It would have to do without the edit.

"Hey where are you running off to?" James asked as he jogged into step beside her.

"I don't know, the library I guess," Lily brushed her hair aside distractedly and started tugging her cardigan back out of her book bag.

"How'd your report shape up?" James asked. "I barely had time to re-read mine before handing it and I'm pretty sure it was just mad rambling," he furrowed his brow. "I really hope she doesn't read samples out to the class like last year," he frowned.

Lily had one sleeve on and one sleeve off so her outward cringe looked particularly manic.

"Whoa, what's up with you?" James asked in bemusement.

"Ergh, nothing," she mumbled, "I just _really_ hope she doesn't read those out loud."

…

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><p>AN: There's more to come! I have the next chapter roughly done already so hopefully it will just be a few edits and a quick update! Its my first time back to fanfiction in a LONG time so I'd love it if you'd review- I need the help!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to JK Rowling.

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><p>Chapter Two - Crystal Gazing<p>

"After you," Lily said and gestured toward the silvery ladder hanging before her.

"No m'lady," James shook his head and smiled, "I insist, after you."

"I'm wearing a skirt, there's no way I'm climbing up that thing with you gawking from the floor," she said flatly.

James shrugged and ascended the ladder with Lily following close behind him.

"Did you do the reading?" he asked in a low tone once they had clamoured through the trap door.

"Yeah, its crystal gazing today," Lily said and raised an eyebrow. "I read that scrying is only done in the dark so let's get seats by the fire so we can actually see our notes."

"This is a terrible idea," James said as they settled down onto fluffy pouffes before the mantelpiece. "I am most definitely going to enter an altered state of consciousness but not due to any clairvoyance on my part," he muttered furtively. "This heat is unbearable," he complained and undid a button on his shirt.

"You'll survive," Lily rolled her eyes. "Besides its bad enough that I have to sit and stare at polished rocks for an hour, there's no way I'm doing it in the dark."

"We can just use _lumos _to read our notes, let's go sit by the window!" James pointed and loosened his tie.

"She won't have it," Lily whispered, "You didn't read the text," she argued and pointed to her open book, "part of the ritual entails sitting in the dark with only one solitary candle."

"Well if anything, the dim lighting will really set the mood eh, Evans?" he said as he rolled up his sleeves. "Really makes for a rather romantic ambiance, don't you think?"

"Shut up," she huffed and snapped her textbook shut.

"Lets begin!" Professor Signum clapped her hands together. The hushed whispering of the class was silenced as everyone turned to look at her.

"Today we are working on crystal gazing. You will notice that I have placed shew stones on each of your respective tables," she said and snapped her fingers. With a number of successive pops, crystal balls appeared at every table causing many of the students to jump in their seats. In his alarm, James nearly knocked his crystal ball off the table to sure ruin but he managed to catch it before any damage was done.

"Slick," Lily mouthed to him with a grin. James scowled at her as he returned the sphere to its stand.

"We engage in crystal gazing in an attempt to look into the future. At first upon gazing you will see nothing but fog as that is what the future is to you- an uncertain haze. With time, you will learn to see images in the fog that can tell you things about your future in love, relationships, work, money and nearly anything else you could wonder about. Remember, your ability to correctly interpret the signs is almost more important than your ability to see the signs at all. Don't be too frightened or set too much store by anything you see in the crystal. Remember that the future is very susceptible to change and that those things you might see are only part of one possible future for you."

With a swish of her wand she extinguished every candle in the room and closed all of the curtains so the only light came from the crackling fire in the hearth.

"Remember that it's helpful to have a specific question in mind when you start scrying for the first time," Professor Signum instructed them. "With that advice you may begin."

James stretched out on his pouffe and looked to Lily expectantly.

"You going to start Miss?"

"I guess," she said reluctantly and swept her hair back into a ponytail. Knees together, with her legs crossed at the ankles she leaned forward over the orb. James watched her for a moment with a smirk playing on his face.

"You might want to do up another button on that blouse," he jeered.

Lily looked up from the stone in puzzlement before looking down at her décolletage.

"James!" she said severely as she straightened up in her chair and with one hand fastened the remaining buttons of her shirt.

"What?" he raised his arms. "You should be happy, I'm guarding your modesty."

"Yeah, but not before having an eyeful," Lily scorned and crossed her arms.

"Oh, go on then, you're just resolved to be mad today," he waved her off. "You've barged into the boys' dormitory before and caught me out in my skivvies and it was all very funny then wasn't it?"

Lily scowled and opened her mouth to retort that the two situations were _completely different_but James was quicker on the mark.

"How about you just go back to gazing at that crystal and I'll go on and not gaze at what I've been gazing at, yeah?"

Lily suppressed a smile and returned to her shew stone. She stared into the murky haze but was unable to make out any discernable shapes. After a few minutes her eyes finally relaxed and she was able to clear her head of the previous conversation that had been nagging at the inner tapestry of her mind. She stared and let her thoughts slip away until she saw something moving in the fog. She looked closely and made out a fleeting, familiar face.

"Oi Potter! Quit messing around!" She said and spun to look over her shoulder.

"Hm?" he intoned and straightened up from the pouffe he had been slumped on.

"Oh," she said softly and turned back around to face him. "Sorry, nothing, just reflections," she trailed off. She turned her attention back to the crystal but the image was gone.

"See anything?" he asked interestedly.

"What? Well, no," she shook her head but continued to stare at the crystal uncertainly.

"Alright, my turn then," he said and knelt down on the floor to stare fixedly at the orb.

"You're going to hurt yourself," Lily snickered. "You're staring at it too hard, just relax."

"How would you know?" James demanded. "It's not like you saw anything!"

"Mr. Potter, how may I assist you as you stare long into the future?" Professor Signum asked sardonically from behind him.

Lily and James both turned to her helplessly.

"We're not having any luck," James admitted.

"Sometimes it's harder to See into your own future. Why don't you try looking into Miss Evans' future?"

"Is that possible?" James asked.

"Yes, the ritual remains the same but you need to keep up a channel of connection with the person whose future you are looking into."

James screwed up his face and looked from Lily to the professor in confusion.

"Touch her in some way and clear your mind except for an awareness of her presence. Good luck, try it out and I'll be back soon to check your progress."

James looked at Lily and shrugged before stretching out his hand.

Lily placed her hand grudgingly in James' but stared determinedly into the fire. She brought her other hand to her lips and pushed her nail between her teeth in vexation. She was only slightly aware of James looking intently into the orb while subconsciously rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.

"See anything?" she asked impatiently.

"Yeah, I think so," he squinted. "There's a tall man with blue eyes," he frowned and stared harder into the stone.

"You have hazel eyes," she said without looking away from the fire.

His gaze shot up from the crystal to Lily's face and she immediately took notice of her error.

"At what point were we ever talking about me?" He asked in a slow, meditated voice.

"I, I don't know," she stuttered and shook her head. "I wasn't thinking," she excused herself.

"No," he shook his head, "You were thinking. Thinking that if there's a man in your future he _must _have hazel eyes," he said as a smile slowly took over his face.

"Don't be thick," she countered quickly. "I completely forgot that you were looking into my future at all, you're the one doing the gazing, I thought for a moment that we were still discussing your future and I tried to remind you that this tall figure in the fog could not be you."

He didn't look convinced but there was a hint of doubt on the bespectacled face that had seemed so sure only a moment before.

"You're just determined to believe that I hide some secret affection for you," she said scathingly whilst smoothing out the pleats of her skirt and flattening the lapels of her collar.

"Yeah?" he stood to his feet, "Well you're determined to pretend that you don't feel any affection for me at all. You expect me to believe that after knowing each other for six years you still regard me as not a friend but the least unattractive prospect in a class of dunderheads?"

Lily opened her mouth to retort but the bell tolled before she could splutter out her rebuttal. James scooped his textbook off the table and turned on his heel, leaving Lily with her book bag and one very foggy orb.

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><p>AN: More to come. I think Tessomancy will be next. We'll see. Not to throw a pity party here but I'm stuck at home with a concussion so your reviews make my day.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to JK Rowling. All of the symbol definitions came from

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><p>Chapter Three - Tasseography<p>

Lily crested the top of the stairs to see an empty landing. The ladder had already been drawn back up to the trap door- a sure sign that she was late. She adjusted her book bag on her shoulder and shifted her weight from foot to foot, staring up at the trap door and chewing her lip.

"I need to go up," she called to the ceiling. The silvery ladder descended and landed at her feet. She scurried up and pushed her way tentatively through the trap door. Students were clustered around low tables and seated on squishy chairs and pouffes. The unmistakable aroma of brewing tea filled the room and the student's chatter reverberated to produce a low hum. There were mismatched tea sets at every table accompanied by the sound of cutlery clanking against porcelain. Lily scanned the room and finally her eyes rested on a mess of black hair. He was seated alone on a loveseat facing the window. She picked her way across the room and rounded the seat to face him.

"Hey," she said, her arm drifting away from her body and back in greeting.

He raised his eyes from his teacup and offered her a tight lipped smile.

"Hey."

She bounced on the balls of her feet and swung her arms before casting an eye out for an empty chair. Seeing none she turned her gaze back to him.

"Here," he muttered and shuffled over on the loveseat, twisting to toss a cushion on the floor.

"Thanks," she said and sat down, her back stiff, her legs crossed and pressed against the leg of the chair.

"Nice of you to join us Miss Evans," Professor Signum said briskly. "You'll be needing a tea cup," she said and waved her wand. A tea cup clattered down on the table with a pop. "I assume you've done the reading and know what to do. I want a written report of every symbol you recognize in your tea leaves along with their meanings and a thorough analysis of the overall reading of your leaves based on the combination of every symbol you see. The report is due on Monday. Get to it."

Lily nodded and leant forward and scooped a spoonful of tealeaves out from a small lidded bowl. She dropped them in her tea cup and carefully poured piping hot water on top. James leaned away from her with his arm firmly wrapped around that of the chair but he watched her closely.

The sun filtered in through sheer curtains that fluttered around the open window. They both squinted in the light and sipped their tea in silence.

"I hate this," Lily sighed and turned to look at James.

"There's white tea if you don't like the green," he suggested and leaned forward to rummage through the tea set.

"No, not the tea," she said and set her cup down.

"Oh," James muttered and straightened up. "We should finish drinking and swirl our dregs so we can get started," he pushed a hand through his hair and stared down into his cup.

Lily parted her lips and stared at him openly before turning swiftly back to her tea.

"Right," she said, downing the rest of her tea and extracting her textbook from her bag. She split the book open and snapped through the pages.

"Let's take a look," she said and held her cup away from her at an angle. "How odd," she pronounced softly, "It made a sort of long, skinny, pattern."

"Lemme see," James demanded and leaned forward. "Looks like an arm to me."

"Arm- signifies love, care and strength," Lily read aloud from the text. "I don't know, it looks more like a bayonet to me," she said. "A sign to be feared, it shows danger of wounds and pain."

"Its not straight enough to be a bayonet," James argued, "Look at the curve, its practically a banana."

"Banana, a prediction of happiness and success in love," Lily looked up from her text to twist the tea cup this way and that. "If you turn it this way it looks a little like a chimney."

"Unless you are cautious you will take a false step," James grimaced, "Sounds just like you," he muttered under his breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily pulled back to study his face.

"Just that of course wherever I see an arm, you see a chimney, that's all," he shrugged.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to her cup.

"It looks just like a candle from this angle," she murmured, "What's that one mean?"

James flicked through his text and looked up with a triumphant smile. "Trials and worries," he grinned. "Go on then, what other cynical feelings of yours can be found in the signs?"

"Potter could you try to maintain some semblance of being unbiased please?" she gesticulated with the cup held gingerly between her thumb and forefinger.

"Yeah, alright, go on then."

"This looks a bit like a comb," she screwed up her face.

"Comb," James read aloud, "you will find out that your confidence in someone was misplaced and this discovery will cause you distress," he read, his voice losing strength as he reached the end of the definition. He looked up to see Lily taking a long, deep breath and staring determinedly away from him.

"Lily," he murmured huskily, "that's not us, that's not me," he leaned toward her and reached out to touch her lightly on the arm.

"Its just tea leaves, James," she said and reeled away from his touch. "It's just silly superstition."

He pulled away and stared at her with a furrowed brow. "Let's do your cup now," she pressed on.

"Alright," he sighed and swirled his teacup before handing it off to her.

"This bit looks sort of like a crane," she indicated with her finger.

"Heavy burdens and anxiety," he read from the text, "Give me that thing," he grabbed the cup from her hands. "Looks more like ferns to me," he said and licked his finger to turn a page. "Steadfast love, that sounds more like me," he smiled.

"If it's a plant then it looks more like daffodils than ferns," Lily huffed.

"Daffodils," James grunted, "A long desired hope is about to come to pass. Yeah, right," he scoffed, "I think my tea leaves and your tea leaves need to talk, they're clearly on different pages."

"That smudge over there looks sort of like a curtain," Lily pointed.

"This symbol proclaims that someone is hiding a matter from you which it would be to your advantage to learn," James read before looking up to gape at Lily.

"Don't be thick," Lily reddened as she poured herself another cup of tea. "Let's just start working on our reports," she suggested.

James shrugged and hunched over a roll of parchment. He seemed to have no trouble with his tea leaf reading- his quill flew across the page. Lily's quill however, was placed firmly between her teeth. She did not want to start work on her report because that would mean analyzing in depth all of those things which she had resolved to not even think about.

Breath hitching in her throat she brought her quill down to the page and slowly wrote her name, extending every flourish as if postponing writing anything of consequence.

_The greatest significance I can infer from my cup is the conflict that lies therein. Where the arm symbolizes love, care and strength, the bayonet appears to remind the drinker that love comes with many dangers and can potentially wound. Where the banana predicts happiness and success in love, the chimney stands as a warning to exert caution to avoid heartache. The candle and comb appear together as if to say that the drinker worries that her love is fickle because it can only be relied upon so much as whomshe loves._

Scowling at her parchment as thought it had offended her, Lily rolled it up carelessly and stuffed it in her book bag. James lifted his head from his hands to frown at her with with eyes.

"Oi, Lily, can you proofread mine?" He asked and jabbed her elbow with his quill.

"No," Lily shook her head and took a sip of tea.

"What? Why not? Just look it over," he pushed his parchment towards her.

"Don't you think you should keep some things to yourself?" Lily snapped and swatted his parchment away. She was saved from having to explain herself further by the bell toll. She seized the opportunity to put as much space between herself and Potter as possible but it didn't keep her thoughts away from him.

That night when she was sitting up in bed looking over her report she sighed and brought her quill down to the page a final time.

_Further analysis of the cup reveals that the drinker must overcome fears of vulnerability if she is to have any success in love. _

. . .

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><p>AN: Dream Interpretation is next. As always, you can R&R to make my day.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to JK Rowling.

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><p>Chapter Four - Dream Interpretation<p>

"Today's lesson we will be focusing on dreams. I trust that you have all done your weekly reading and you understand the reasons why we do dream interpretation in Divination. Today I want you to experiment with different levels of interpretation on your own. My imparting words of wisdom are to analyze your dreams as you would a book or play."

Professor Signum left her spot at the front of the classroom and started making her rounds, stopping at tables to listen in on the conversation and reading students' notes from over their shoulders. Almost immediately, the room filled with chatter as everyone started to recount their most recent dreams.

"Alright, lets start this bollocks," James said and slapped some parchment down on the table. "Have you had any dreams lately because I can't remember any of mine."

"You're not getting off that easy, you always make me go first, why don't you embarrass yourself for once?" Lily asked.

"Listen. My dreams have been very short and straightforward lately. There's no symbolism to interpret, they're just exactly what they appear to be," he said flatly.

"Well why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Lily pressed on.

"Fine," he shrugged. "I dream about you," he said unabashedly. "Holding you, kissing you, sleeping next to you-"

"OKAY! OKAY! I'll go first!" Lily threw her hands up between them defensively. She writhed in her seat and shook her fingers out as if to ward off bad spirits.

"Alright, then! Dreams. I've had lots of dreams," she half-shouted as she settled back down in her seat. James sat back and crossed his arms, smiling as he watched her squirm.

"What was it," she scowled into the distance once she'd recollected herself, ". . . something about a rooster?"

James bent over furtively and his quill started to race across the parchment. "Subject is dreaming of cock," he muttered aloud. "Alright, got it, what else?" he looked up at her expectantly.

Lily gave him a withering stare but he just giggled into the crook of his elbow. "I think the rooster was chasing me," she continued and screwed up her face in concentration. "I was scared at first and started to run but then I tripped."

"Right, so you were falling for a chicken," James nodded knowledgeably, "Would you say you were head over heels for him?"

"He opened his beak and I covered my ears because I expected him to squawk at me or bite me," Lily ignored him, "but instead he started to whistle a song and the dream ended before I could hear the whole thing."

"The rooster impressed the subject with his oral competency," he mumbled audibly.

"POTTER!" Lily snapped.

"Is there a problem Miss Evans?" intoned Professor Signum from over Lily's shoulder.

"No, Professor, no problem at all," Lily said through gritted teeth.

"Well let me have a look at your work," she said and with a swish of her wand she had summoned James' parchment into her reaching hand.

James reddened and fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I'm not quite done that yet," he said weakly and tugged at his collar.

"No, no," Professor Signum shook her head. "This is very good! Symbolic imagery and wordplay are often used in dreams. James your analytical skills are clearly well honed and you're quite adept at sniffing out allegory! Excellent work!" She said before handing him his parchment and gliding away.

James turned to Lily sheepishly and rolled up his parchment in silence.

"How the ruddy hell did you get away with that?" Lily asked. "I expected her to chide you for immaturity at the very least," Lily shook her head.

"Yeah, me too," James fiddled with his glasses. "Just got lucky I suppose."

"Well listen, I have to do a report whether you have dreams or not," Lily said, whipping her red hair out of her face. "So you're going to have to make something up or remember a more erm- _appropriate_ dream."

"Alright, I'll tell you one of Sirius'," James leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head. "He was at home, doing a couple laps of the backyard on his broomstick and suddenly Professor McGonagall was there only she didn't _look_like Professor McGonagall," he waved his hands and shook his head back and forth. "Write that down by the way," he pointed to her, "Sirius seemed to think that part was really important."

Lily rolled her eyes and started jotting down notes.

"So, was McGonagall waiting for him in the backyard or was she also on a broomstick?"

"No, they weren't in the backyard anymore, they were hovering over the Forbidden Forest," he corrected her. "And she was flying but it looked more like swimming through the air. . ."

It took several minutes for James to recount the entirety of Sirius' dream and when he finally finished, Lily had barely started her analysis before she ran out of parchment.

"Oi, long-winded prat, can I borrow some parchment?" Lily nudged James under the table with her foot.

"Yeah," James waved, not looking up from the textbook he was reading, "Go ahead," he nodded toward the small pile of scrolls that had accumulated on the table.

Lily pulled one from the pile and unwound it to find that it was already full of James' cramped writing. She was about to toss it back on the table when the title caught her eye.

_Lily's Dream  
>-rooster: a "cocky" male<em>

_-the chase: a pursuit, male is trying to "catch" her.  
>-she describes feelings of fear and anxiety<br>-she trips: "falling" for the male  
>-covers ears, expecting a lound noise or for the rooster to bite her: trying to protect herself, believes the male will harm her<br>-the rooster sings: unexpected, the male is not who she thought he was_

Lily's hands shook slightly as she rolled the scroll back up. She pushed it back onto the table and sat back in her seat, tucking her legs under her and resting her chin in her hand. She looked across the table at James and seemed to stare through him. Feeling her gaze he lifted his eyes over his book to look at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she murmured and shook her head and selected a fresh scroll from the pile.

James shrugged and returned to his book.

"But," she said suddenly and looked up at him. "You were wrong about your dream analysis," she said hurriedly. James frowned and cocked his head.

"I wasn't _falling_ for the male. He was _tripping _me up with all of his questions."

James looked from her to the parchment on the table, his lips twitching.

"Sure," he nodded, eyes crinkled. "I'll be sure to fix that up when I write my formal report."

With a clang, the bell tolled and James jumped up out of his seat.

"Quidditch," he said wildly and snatched up his bag before racing across the room to the trap door.

"Potter!" Lily called and stood to her feet, "You left your notes!" she shouted and waved his parchment about.

"Keep it," he called back across the room. "I already knew everything on that paper, you need the notes a lot more than I do!"

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><p>AN: There's more coming. The next chapter might not spring up as quickly as the others have because I'm undecided on just what it will be at the moment. BUT I have lots of other stories for you to read in the mean time so go check out my profile.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to JK Rowling.

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><p>Chapter Five - Astrology<p>

"It's too late for this much stair-climbing," James panted as he reached the landing of yet another set of stairs.

"I thought Quidditch players were supposed to be fit," Lily taunted.

"Sure but we don't often make use of our calve muscles and frankly I'd be happy to never use them again," he huffed.

Finally, they reached a corridor at the top of the stairs where a heavy door was propped open.

The torchlight bathing the corridor didn't extend so far outside the door and Lily and James blinked as they stepped out onto the dark terrace. There were already clusters students dotted along the parapet, all of whom were staring out at the moon-lit grounds.

"Thank you all very much for staying up so late to attend class this evening," Professor Signum called out to the students. "Professor Sinistra has been kind enough to offer us the use of the Astronomy Tower for our astrology lessons. I trust that you will not take advantage of her kindness to defile her teaching space in anyway," she said sternly and stared down the pupils.

James and Lily exchanged looks of alarm before stifling giggles. There was a chorus of uncomfortable coughing and feet shuffling from the rest of the class.

"The study of astrology differs greatly from that of astronomy," she continued, a little red in the face. "Astronomy seeks to record the physical attributes of those objects in the night sky. Astrology looks for changes in the heavens to predict changes in our future. Today you will be comparing your personal chart from the time of your birth to the present day positions of any relevant celestial bodies. Get started," she said brusquely.

By now everyone was used to Professor Signum's hand's on teaching style and so they got straight to work, arranging telescopes on the parapet and inking in their maps.

"This is tedious work," Lily grumbled as she put her eye up to her telescope's lens and adjusted one of the dials.

"Yeah but at least the weather's nice," James shrugged. "Imagine if we had to do this in the fog," he muttered.

It was by all standards, a perfect day for star gazing. The moon was bright (and to James' relief it was just a quarter moon), there was a cool breeze coming off the lake and the skies were clear.

"Did you do the homework?" Lily asked as she jotted something down on her star chart.

"Yeah," James grimaced. "I'm an Aries, the ram, woolly sheep, dominated by the planet Mars, element of fire and apparently the most important part of my body is my head," he rolled his eyes. "What a load of bollocks."

"That actually sounds kind of like you," Lily leaned back from her telescope. "Mars is war right? Competition, impulsiveness, all of that good stuff?"

"Yeah, I guess," James conceded. "It said something about a solar association too," he added.

"Ha! That's just like you, solar associations come with a big ego," Lily grinned.

"Why do you know all this?" James looked up from his star chart suspiciously.

"I've been studying, we have a test tomorrow," Lily shrugged.

"WE DO?"

Several students looked their way curiously.

"I mean," he lowered his voice, "we do?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Lily waved him off, "You already know the qualities of your own star sign, you only have to learn eleven more."

"Oh, is that all?"

"They're easy, don't worry about it. I can teach you mine while we're here."

"Yeah," James nodded, "Go on then."

"Well Aquarius is the eleventh sign," Lily recited as she bent over her telescope again. "Its symbol is the water carrier but it's an air sign, which is kind of confusing," she pulled a face. "Some positive traits associated with Aquarius are that we tend to be friendly, honest and loyal, but we're also described as unemotional and detached."

"Well I can't argue with that last one," James grumbled.

"You think I'm detached?" she looked up in surprise.

"Well, maybe not," he amended. "But you're guarded."

"Fair enough," she agreed. "Aquarius are also strong willed and forceful. We hold strong convictions but can be persuaded to change our minds when presented with sufficient evidence to the contrary."

"Now that one I don't buy," James said and gave her a significant look. "The stars could spell out 'Lily and James Forever' and you wouldn't give us a chance," he grinned.

Lily was silent for a moment and James wondered if he had gone too far.

"I shouldn't have said that," he said. "Forget I mentioned it."

"No, you're right, I've backed myself into a bit of a corner," Lily she said finally and tugged at her collar.

"Well there's lots of room over there, lets go set up our telescopes on that ledge," James pointed and started to scoop up his star chart.

"No," Lily closed her hand around his wrist, "not a literal corner, a figurative one," she explained and swiped her hair away from her face.

"Oh," James said and replaced his chart on the ledge. "So you are in a symbolic corner," he turned to face her, "Go on."

"Right," she took a deep breath. Even in the half-dark she could see the smirk pulling at his lips.

"I'm in a position where I've been asked a question so many times and answered so vehemently in denial each time that its impossible for me to change my answer, even if the answer in my mind really has changed," she said in one breath.

"Lily," he laughed, "Its not that complicated, just say what you feel regardless of how many times you've claimed otherwise."

"But that's just it," she threw up her hands, "How am I to trust what I feel? Feelings change," she raised her eyebrows sceptically. "I mean, look at me- I couldn't stand you but now I'm tripping over roosters and seeing bananas in my tea cups!"

James was surprised at how direct she was but he leaped on the chance to talk openly.

"Yeah but Lily, that's a risk we all have to take," he said firmly. "You can't just sit on your feelings and never act on them because you're afraid you're going to change," he pushed a hand through his hair. Planets shift and tea leaf dregs can be swirled down the sink and lets face it, the palms of our hands are getting more wrinkled every day," he held his hands out. "Things have changed and they're not going to stop, you just have to roll with it," he shrugged.

"I know," she tossed her head impatiently, "It's just that love can seem so fickle," she frowned.

"Love?" he asked quietly. She could hear his smile in the question and she reddened considerably.

"Well, yeah," she admitted, "That's what we're getting at right?"

"I'm already there Evans," he said with a wry smile. He turned and leaned against the balcony handrail. "The rest is up to you," he said and stared determinedly out over the dark grounds.

She sighed and took a step toward him and she too leaned against the railing, perching her elbows on the ledge and letting her body sway toward his. He smiled as he felt her warmth against his side but he kept his eyes on the stars, not daring to look lest he scared her away. But she was not to be deterred now that she had admitted to so much and she pushed her head against his shoulder without a second thought. Her heart felt full to the brim with what she thought must be love and though it was just a fickle feeling she believed that she could trust it for now.

"James," she said faintly as she pressed her face against his neck.

"Mm," he answered and closed his eyes in anticipation of what was coming.

"I love you," she breathed softly against his skin.

"I love you too," he said throatily and placed his lips firmly against her forehead.

"But we should get back to work before Signum comes over and accuses us of defiling the teaching space."

END. 

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><p>AN Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a review or added the story to their favourites or put it on their story alert! You made my week!


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